Share Your Stories

All across the Delaware Valley, families, commuters, vacation-goers and travellers have memories of their own very special experiences on and about the Walt Whitman Bridge. Here are some stories. Let's walk down memory lane.

"As a child my family lived very close to the site of the Walt Whitman Bridge. On a daily basis I could observe the construction from my school window. It was a wonder to watch. As a matter of fact, one of the photos posted on this site shows school children marching to the opening ceremony. Well, I was one of those children! Our school - Stella Maris Parish elementary school - was invited to be part of the ceremony and that day. It was very hot for May. We marched all the way from 9th and Bigler to the middle of the bridge, stood there for all of the speeches etc. and then had to march back to school. I don't think the Sisters heard a peep out of us the rest of the day since we were all so tired. Looking back it was very exciting and a great memory."
"My grandfather, Dr. Charles Brennan Sr., was at that time, a practicing physician in the town of Gloucester City, New Jersey, the town in which the bridge is supported on the Jersey side. As I understand it, if a worker during construction needed immediate medical attention, my grandfather's office was where they were taken. I was born in July of that year but my mother fondly remembers participating in the grand opening and being on the bridge, even at seven months pregnant."
"My Father, Rocco (Rocky), was one of the original "Rod-setters" who constructed the Walt Whitman Bridge. I am so very proud of my Dad. One of several stories he told me of that time, was that the bridge was built from the ends to middle and how my Mom would drive him to the top (where they had finished the roadway) to drop him off for work. I wished that he was in one of those past photos from the Image Gallery. For all I know, he could be the guy kneeling in the second picture."
"During the summer of 1955, my Uncle would pile his kids and us into his shiny 1953 Buick and take us from Germantown to South Philly for water ice somewhere on Washington Avenue. He had friends who worked in the railroad yard beside the bridge construction. So we would end our road trip with a trip to check on the progress of construction and then play on the train cars."